Navarre Bible Old Testament, Standard Edition (7 vols.)

The Pentateuch, also known to Christians and Jews as the “Law” (“Torah” in Hebrew), is made up of the first five books of the Bible. Genesis deals with the origin of the world, of man, and of the people of Israel. Exodus is an account of the epic journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. Leviticus deals with ritual holiness and worship. Numbers takes its name from censuses and lists of the Israelites. Deuteronomy, in three great discourses attributed to Moses, describes the later stages of the Exodus.

The historical books of the Old Testament recount the fortunes of the people of Israel beginning with the conquest of the Promised Land. Joshua through Kings bring the story up to the point where the independent kingdom of Judah is destroyed by foreign invaders and much of the population deported to Babylon.

This is a book about history, but what it deals with particularly is salvation history; it is part of God’s revelation to mankind and is, therefore of enduring religious interest. Many of the great names of salvation history, as well as their exploits, fill the pages of this volume, and with them the Lord God of Israel engages—wooing them, commanding them, tolerating them, and punishing them for breaking the Covenant made with Moses during the exodus from Egypt.

Here we see Joshua leading the people into Canaan and dividing it among the 12 tribes. During the difficult years of settlement, God raises up leaders to act as judges and saviors—Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson, among them. Here too is the delightful story of Ruth the Moabitess, ancestor of David. The prophet Samuel accedes to the peoples’ clamor for a king—anointing first Saul, then David. The volume reports the reign of Solomon—who built the temple of Jerusalem—and the career of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; it also describes the prophets who strive to keep both kings and people loyal to the Law. Eventually Jerusalem falls, in the year 587. The monarchy is at an end, but the people of God will soon re-emerge from apparent failure, and Jerusalem and the Law will be restored.

The historical books of the Old Testament recount the fortunes of the people of Israel beginning with the conquest of the Promised Land. The First Book of Chronicles gives the background of the chosen people of God and of the families that made up the 12 tribes; it records, too, the career of David. Second Chronicles begins with Solomon in all his glory and ends with Israel’s ignominious deportation to Babylon. Ezra through Nehemiah record the epic rebuilding of Jerusalem and its temple after the 70-year Babylonian exile. The final books, Maccabees, give vivid accounts of the Jewish experience at a time when Greek successors of Alexander the Great sought to stamp out all traces of the religion of Moses and to replace it with a cosmopolitan pagan ethic.

This, the second of two volumes of “historical books” in the Navarre Bible edition, also contains the three picturesque narratives of Tobit, Judith, and Esther.

Psalms is essentially a book of prayers and praises; most of the psalms are addressed to God, but here we also find proclamations of the works of the Lord, descriptions of man’s plight, curses invoked on enemies, songs in praise of the King or of the city of Jerusalem, and exhortations to the good life. The Psalms date back as early as the time of the great King David, but they are so evocative of the human condition that they articulate the feelings and desires of people in every age. Also included here is the Song of Solomon, or Song of Songs; a blending of love songs, it also celebrates the mutual love between God and the human individual, and between God and His people.

While the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) record the Law of Moses in the form of commandments, the Wisdom Books propound that teaching in the form of counsels and proverbs. They also reveal the close connection between knowledge that comes through faith, and knowledge acquired through human reasoning.

The book of Job takes the form of a narrative—the story of an upright man who experiences misfortune after misfortune; to a degree, it lifts the veil that shrouds the mystery of suffering. The book of Ecclesiastes helps the believer to appreciate the value of things heavenly. Proverbs consists of seven collections of wise sayings from the ancient Near East. The Wisdom of Solomon, which probably originated in the Jewish community of Alexandria (Egypt), interfaces with the world of Greek culture. Sirach, written by someone steeped in the wisdom tradition of Israel, was much referenced by the early Fathers of the Church.

Reading and reflecting on the Wisdom Books helps prepare the human mind and spirit to receive the Lord and to understand his teaching.

In the language of the Bible, the words “prophet,” “prophecy,” etc have quite a broad meaning—but all refer, primarily, to the idea of “speaking in the name of God.” The entire Old Testament could be said to be prophetical, but some books carry the names of specific prophets or teachers, twelve “minor” and four “major”—a distinction based on the length of the texts. The books of the major prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah (with Lamentations and Baruch), Ezekiel, and Daniel—make up this volume of the Navarre Bible.

In the language of the Bible, “prophecy” has quite a broad meaning—but it refers, primarily, to the idea of “speaking in the name of God." The entire Old Testament could be said to be prophetic, but some books carry the names of four “major” and twelve “minor” prophets—a distinction based on length. Not all of them easy to date, the authors and editors of these books—collectively the “roll of the twelve prophets”—lived sometime between the eighth and second century BC.

The Psalms aside, the books of the prophets are the Old Testament sources most often referenced in the New Testament. Their message covers all aspects of Israelite and Christian faith: belief in One God, his chosen people, the Messiah, and the path to salvation.